


Flowers Are Easy

by lionessvalenti



Category: White Collar
Genre: Established Relationship, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-25
Updated: 2010-05-25
Packaged: 2017-10-09 17:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's easy to assume. It's even easier to let them assume.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers Are Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by lefaym.

Eyes on the computer screen, Elizabeth reached for her coffee. She loved her work, and she loved running her own business, but some days were all paperwork and payrolls. This was one of those days. She had complained about it thoroughly at breakfast, as she always did when this day rolled around. Peter and Neal had listened with sympathetic ears, and had possibly rolled their eyes when she wasn't looking.

She made a face. Her coffee was cold. She dumped the remains of the mug into the garbage can next to her desk.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up at Yvonne, who was standing in the doorway of the small office. "Yeah?"

"You have a visitor?" Yvonne said, sounding more like she was unsure if Elizabeth did, in fact, have a visitor. Her face was unreadable, but she looked a bit more excited than one should at a drop-by visit. It hadn't been _that_ slow today.

"Oh." She smiled. "Send them in."

Yvonne stepped away from the door and Neal walked into the office, holding a bouquet of yellow calla lilies in one hand, and taking off his hat with the other.

"Neal!" Elizabeth stood up and hugged him, careful not to crush the flowers. "What are you doing here?"

He kissed her cheek. "Bringing you flowers. I thought the flowers made it obvious."

"They're beautiful. You really didn't have to," she said, and they both knew he didn't have to. It was just the sort of typical Neal thing to do. She took them from him and set them on the the desk. She turned back him to him, still smiling. "Just in the neighborhood, were you?"

"No, I took a cab," Neal replied. "I knew you weren't looking forward to today, so I thought I'd drop by."

Elizabeth laughed. "Are you trying to show up my husband?"

He shook his head, grinning. "No, definitely not. Flowers are easy."

"Yeah, for you." She hugged him again, this time holding him. She breathed in deep, taking in his scent, and feeling the weight of his arms around her. "I appreciate it. Thank you."

"My pleasure," he replied. He pulled back from the hug and mouthed _love you_, as flipped his hat back onto his head.

She grinned. "You too."

Neal winked, then turned out of the office. He tipped his hat toward Yvonne and Sarah as he walked to the door. "Ladies."

Elizabeth shook her head, smiling to herself. She walked around the desk and picked up the flowers as she sat down. She had only been sitting for a moment when she looked up to see Yvonne and Sarah wedged together in the doorway, waiting expectantly.

"What?"

"Who _was_ that?" Sarah asked, wide eyed.

"Oh, just, uh, Neal." Elizabeth shrugged. "He's a friend. It's not a big deal."

Yvonne raised an eyebrows. "A gorgeous man in a fedora just brought you flowers in the middle of the day. Is there something going on?"

"Going on?"

"Are you having an affair with him?" Sarah asked. "I mean, I wouldn't blame you. He's really hot!"

"Yeah, talk about trading up," Yvonne added.

Elizabeth's brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Just that... he's really hot and charming. And most guys... aren't." Yvonne bit her lower lip, and shrugged.

"Oh, you mean my husband isn't," Elizabeth said flatly. "So it's obvious why I would want to cheat on him."

Sarah took a step backward. "We should get back to work."

Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah, you should."

Once her office was emptied, she leaned back in the chair, looking at the flowers that were lying across her keyboard. They really were beautiful, and it was sweet of Neal to think of her. He had probably been planning this since she talked about how much she was dreading the day. It was so like him.

It was such a shame real life had to come in and take that away. She picked up the flowers and her hand hovered over the garbage can for a moment, before she pulled it away. She had some nice vases at home. The flowers would keep until then.

\--- --- ---

Elizabeth flipped through the channels on the television while idly rubbing Satchmo's belly with her foot. She stopped on the History Channel at the sound of the door opening. She looked over to see Peter walking inside.

"Hey, honey," she said.

"Hey." He grinned, and pulled off his coat, and took a step onto the stairs. "I'm going to change. Is there dinner?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I can heat some up for you."

"Don't worry about it, I'll get it," he replied, disappearing up the stairs.

Elizabeth sat back on the couch, and tried for a few more channels, before settling on a nature documentary about butterflies. She turned the volume down and tossed the remote onto the coffee table. It was better than nothing, and definitely better than channel surfing.

Peter came back downstairs dressed in his late-night house clothes: a tee shirt and black pajama pants. "Where's Neal?" he asked.

"He left a couple hours ago with Mozzie. I didn't ask questions."

He paused, looking up at the ceiling, probably counting backwards from five. "Okay." He looked at her and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Just... crappy day at work."

"Oh, yeah, all that paperwork stuff. Not too boring, I hope." He walked into the kitchen, and Elizabeth listened to him open and close the refrigerator door a few times, and then the sound of the microwave running. A few minutes later, he came back into the living room with a plate of food and a beer. "You want one?" he asked, holding up the beer.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, thanks."

He sat down next to her and watched the butterfly program for a minute, then looked at her. He leaned forward, setting his plate on the table. "You're not okay, are you? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's... Neal stopped by and he brought me flowers today." She pointing to the dining room table where she had placed the calla lilies in a vase.

"He never brings me flowers," Peter muttered, and Elizabeth laughed.

"Yeah, well, when he left, the girls started asking a lot of questions. They wanted to know if I was having an affair. They said I was... trading up."

Peter blinked. "What does that mean?"

Elizabeth looked at him, frowning. "Like a car. When you get a better model."

"Oh. I guess I could... see that."

"No, it's bullshit. Neal is gorgeous, but that doesn't make him better than you. They were making shallow judgment calls based on three seconds of seeing him, and what? Half a dozen times they've met you? It isn't fair, and, frankly, it's disgusting that they would say those things at all, let alone to my face." She put her face in her hands, rubbing at the corners of her eyes with her fingers. She lifted her face, and looked to Peter. "The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth."

"Because of what they said?"

"What they said, and that I couldn't correct them. That it was easier to let them believe whatever they wanted."

Peter shrugged. "No one assumes you're in a... relationship like ours. And Neal _is_ sexy and charming."

Elizabeth sighed. "I feel like I should have stood up for us. I should have just explained the situation. Even if it's not any of their business. I shouldn't care what they think, but at the same time, I don't want them thinking I'm the kind of person who cheats on my husband. Though they were acting like it was the best thing I could be doing for myself. Like an affair is the new day at the spa."

"Honestly, El, it's not like you _aren't_ sleeping with Neal," Peter said gently, rubbing her arm. "They might not have found the right conclusion, but they didn't come to the wrong one either."

"So I shouldn't be mad?"

"No! Be mad!" She could see him backpedaling in fear of invalidating her feelings. "It's not their business and I'm not some used car."

She smiled and rested her hand on his knee. "I think what bothers me the most is that it's so much easier to believe that I would cheat on you than the truth. I know people don't think that way, that relationships like this exist, let alone work, and I don't know if it's going to work, but I hate what they implied about us. Without meaning to. I almost threw the flowers away, and then I realized it wasn't Neal's fault. He didn't make me feel this way."

Peter wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and didn't say anything as she leaned against him.

"When Neal gets home, I think we should talk about how to handle this situation when it comes up again," Elizabeth said. "Because it will, and it might be at your job, or with our families. The whole thing felt really out of my control, and I didn't know what to say, so I got sarcastic and defensive. I don't want to feel like this again."

"Okay," Peter agreed. "Did Neal say when he was going to be home?"

"Nope. Just that we shouldn't wait up."

"Well, that can't be good."

"No, but we agreed to trust him."

Peter snorted. "Yeah, trust him not to get caught."

Elizabeth laughed. "Eat your dinner. I'm going to find something better on than the butterfly show." She reached forward for the remote and grabbed his plate, handing it to him as she sat back. "Do you think you two could come into work with me tomorrow and make out for like an hour?"

"We could," Peter replied with raised eyebrows. "I don't know what that would accomplish. Besides hard-ons."

"It would give the girls something to think about when they're presented with a situation that might be more than it seems. And it would make me happy. You two don't make out nearly enough for my liking."

"I think we can arrange the making out, but I don't know if your office is the place for that."

"Probably not," Elizabeth agreed. "I wouldn't get any work done."

Peter laughed. "I like your priorities."

She looked over at him, watching him eat for a moment, then said, "I love you. There's no trading up, you know that, right?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I know. You're stuck with this old heap of junk."

"No," Elizabeth replied, turning back to the television, "you're a classic."


End file.
